Tuning machines are used to adjust the tension of strings of musical instruments, such as guitars, to affect the sound provided by the strings when plucked or strummed or otherwise played. For a guitar, the tuning machines are typically mounted to the headstock of the guitar. The strings extend from the body of the guitar, along the neck to the headstock. The strings extend over the frets on the neck of the guitar and over a nut at the junction between the neck and the headstock. The strings extend through respective tuning machines mounted to the headstock. Finger plates or knobs on the tuning machines can be rotated to cause shafts of the tuning machines, through which the strings respectively extend, to rotate to adjust the tensions on the strings.
New strings can be inserted into tuning machines as appropriate, e.g., when the guitar is first assembled or after a string breaks. To restring the guitar, the new string is affixed to the body of the guitar and run up the neck, over the nut, and into the respective tuning machine. The string is threaded through a hole in a shaft of the tuning machine, cut (as appropriate/desired), and wrapped around the neck of the tuning machine. The tuning machine is then rotated in the direction of the wrapping such that the string coils around the neck of the tuning machine until the desired tension is achieved. After the initial threading, the person restringing the guitar holds the guitar string wrapped about the neck of the tuning machine and begins rotating the tuning machine finger plate. The user typically holds the string in place until the string has been wrapped about the neck of the tuning machine such that the string can be let go without the string slipping back through the hole in the shaft of the tuning machine. Alternatively, the user can wrap the string, after threading it through the hole in the shaft, about the neck several times before beginning to rotate the finger plate of the tuning machine.